Please help with a stringing machine

Hey guys,
I'm looking into getting into stringing, just because i can't afford $10 per string job (and this is a discount that one of my team members does it for).
I need a cheap machine that wont ruin my strings, racquets and wont fail on me

"The Klipper is a good machine, but it lacks the ratchet/clutch in the tension head, and so is noticably less convenient to use than the others, which have the ratchet/clutch.. " As a longtime Klipper user I'll tell you that the Klipper doesn't need a ratchet/clutch since the gripper mechanism allows the string to 'slide' through the gripper when you partially lift the tension arm and thus you can "slip the clutch" making minor adjustments to the arm angle without having to totally lift the arm and readjust the string. The gripper mechanisms on the ratchet/clutch machines won't allow you do that ( using a rough surfaced - some use diamond dust - gripper, which by the way eventually wears off and starts to slip). The Klipper also has a lifetime warranty.

I'm familiar with both the clutch/ratchet system, as well as with the Klipper's system, and the clutch/ratchet system to me is significantly more convenient than is readjusting the slack on the Klipper until it's just right.

Salman, the ATS SS II is preferable to the X-2, IMO. They are very similar, but they have changed the tension head stand and it is now a stamped part held together with bolts where as the SS II's is a 1 piece, cast part. A clutch or ratcheting tension head allows one to raise the drop weight arm while holding the rotating head stationary. Without this the drum and the arm both turn and you have to either release the string from the drum or let it slip to give it more slack if a second pull is needed. Most people feel it is easier to string on a drop weight machine that has a clutch.

It's not my fault, it's these damn progressive bifocals! I went back and read your post again...and tilted my head a bit more. I wear contacts during the day and have reading glasses for the close up stuff.

You're right, though, it would be a funny picture...a Klipper with a figure 4 leg lock on its unsuspecting master.